Diabetes Rate Lower In Black Tea-Drinking Countries: Study

Black tea might be linked with a lower risk of diabetes, according to a new study in the journal BMJ Open.

Researchers from Data Mining International in Switzerland found that rates of diabetes are lower in countries with high black tea-drinking rates.

It may be too early to say that black tea could actually protect against diabetes but "the findings are consistent with previous studies that have also suggested a link," study researcher Dr. Ariel Beresniak, M.D., Ph.D., told WebMD.

For instance, the quality and consistency of record keeping among the 50 countries analyzed may vary, while results at the population level may not be true at the individual level, researchers from Switzerland, France and England point out.

The study included data on black tea consumption and disease rates from 50 countries that were in the World Health Survey in 2009. The researchers looked at diseases including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease and infectious disease.

Researchers found that in countries with the highest rates of people drinking black tea -- like Ireland, where each person consumes an average of 4.4 pounds of the stuff each year, as well as the United Kingdom and Turkey -- there were also the lowest levels of diabetes, HealthDay reported.

Meanwhile, the countries that drank the least black tea in the study included Mexico, Morocco, Brazil, China and South Korea, the New York Daily News reported.

However, researchers did not find a link between other diseases and black tea consumption, according to HealthDay.

This is not the first time tea-drinking has been linked with health benefits. Click through the slideshow for other ways it could benefit our bodies: